


Life of the Party

by MusicandDancingThroughLife



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluff, Kind of a songfic, M/M, SO FLUFFY, some of the other Foxes are mentioned but they don't actually appear in the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicandDancingThroughLife/pseuds/MusicandDancingThroughLife
Summary: Erik and Nicky spend Christmas Eve with each other, decorating for the holiday. Lots of fluff.
Relationships: Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Life of the Party

**Author's Note:**

> So if anyone is interested, I actually wrote this for a class I guess? Which I vaguely remember, but like. I'm literally looking right at the stupid document and having flashbacks to the hell that this class was, and it's in the same format and ugh. I hate that.

Nicky was as excited as could be. Erik, not so much. Of course, he was happy to finally see Nicky again, after so long since their last visit. And the last two days together had been wonderful, with fun and romantic activities (and definitely some Christmas shopping) crammed in the spaces left over with classes and practice put on hold for the holiday. But now it was Christmas Eve, and the two of them were back at Nicky’s and the twins’ home in Columbia. Not that Erik minded that so much, but he definitely didn’t care much for the twins. And the twins with their significant others wasn’t any better. Not that he particularly minded Neil or Katelyn. But Aaron with Katelyn was insufferable, and he didn’t understand what Neil saw in Andrew. But Nicky was happy to have them around, so Erik kept quiet.

Still, did they have to ignore Nicky while he tried to decorate for Christmas? It was obvious he was struggling to get all the lights to work, and where were his cousins? Aaron and Katelyn had taken her car and disappeared somewhere in town. Erik could just hear Andrew and Neil rummaging through the kitchen. Useless. Briefly, the thought that he himself could help crossed his mind, but he reconsidered after another glance. He squirmed in his seat. The view was much too lovely to pass up like that. He said as much to Nicky, who pulled away from the tree, startled by the comment. He twisted to look back at his boyfriend and laughed. 

“Come on, lazy, how about you come help me?”

Erik just shot him a happy grin and stretched out on the couch to settle more comfortably into the cushions. Nicky just shook his head and returned his focus to the tree in front of him, all but lunging into it to get a hold of some of the lights. Erik had just let his eyes drift shut, lulled by the distant sounds of Andrew and Neil having a conversation and Nicky’s small noises in the tree, humming quietly to himself as he worked, when Nicky finally yelped, one arm flailing as he struggled to regain his balance after slipping. He half-heartedly landed sideways into the tree, still squirming and trying to inch himself backwards. His hips were shaking with the effort of pulling himself back up and he sounded so alarmed that Erik couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Babe,” he tried to get out around his laughter, “are you okay? Or…”

“I… couldn’t’ve… gotten… more help… earlier?” Nicky bit out. “Then… maybe… I… wouldn’t… be in… this mess… you jerk!” After struggling for a couple more minutes, he finally managed to pull himself free, flying backwards to land on his butt. Erik just laughed harder before moving to help Nicky back up. 

“Gee, thanks,” he tried to deadpan, but a grin was threatening to overtake his face. “At least it’s finally done.”

Erik spared a look towards the bare tree. “Umm I’m no expert here, but isn’t your tree missing ornaments?”

Nicky shook his head. “Nah, the twins always liked doing that. I thought I would leave it for them.” Erik gave him a doubtful look, but left him to it. He followed Nicky out of the living room and down the hall to their own bedroom. He wanted to groan at the small mountain of presents waiting them there, but Nicky was nearly vibrating with joy, so he grinned instead. How could anyone want to hurt this beautiful man of his life? Nicky caught him staring. He raised an eyebrow. “Distracted again? Damn, you’re no help to me when you’re like this.”

Erik blinked, then leaned down and picked up a roll of wrapping paper on the floor next to him, quickly bopping Nicky in the head with it. Chuckling as Nicky spluttered, he flopped down to the floor and got ready to help his adorably content boyfriend with the gifts. 

At first, they idled the time with gentle conversation as they cut, wrapped, and taped the assorted gifts for Neil and Katelyn, the rest of the Foxes, and most especially the twins (apparently this is an old habit of Nicky’s, back from when he was raising the twins and trying to help them find their way out of their own personal hells). But as time passed, they found themselves growing quieter and quieter, and they spent more time staring at each other and not paying attention to what they were doing. Not long after that, Erik grabbed Nicky’s hands with one of his own, and his other hand went to Nicky’s jaw and pulled him in close for a kiss. That kiss turned into two. Then it may have turned into more. Yeah, it was a full-blown make out session.

Needless to say, by the time they gathered up those gifts and moved to place them under the tree, it was very, very late. Once they reached the tree again, Erik stopped in his tracks. Nicky turned back to see him staring in awe-struck wonder at the glowing beauty in front of them. The ornaments had been specifically and impeccably placed just so, creating one of the most magnificent trees he had ever seen. Or maybe it was the thought of those hands – those damaged creatures, working together to create something so fragile, something that whispered of safety and love – that caused Erik to pause.

“Andrew and Aaron did this?” he asked wonderingly.

“You didn’t believe me?” was the soft response.

“No, it’s just…”

Nicky laughed quietly. “I was surprised the first year, too. But they enjoy it. And I don’t mind. They do a good job.”

They stood together in silence for a minute and then, “How did they get those ornaments on top? Seems a little high for them.” Nicky nodded in serious agreement. “I think they probably made Katelyn and Neil do those. Or they used chairs or stools. That’s what they did the first couple of years.” With that amusing thought in the forefront of their minds, the two worked quickly to place the gifts under the tree, trying hard to keep it looking just as lovely as the other four had left it.

Erik heard Nicky humming a song under his breath, and he strained his ears to catch the last few notes of “Silent Night”. Catching his eye, Nicky gave him a sappy smile and restarted the song, this time singing gently. Erik felt the peace and contentment bubble up inside of him. Sitting back, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feelings welling up inside of him. Nicky’s song washed over him, the lights from the tree were a comforting presence in the room, and when he remembered who was responsible for the beautiful tree and how happy that made Nicky, his feelings only increased tenfold. He blinked his eyes back open and saw that Nicky had closed his eyes, too, still singing, though he had switched to German during one of the verses. Silently, Erik got up and grabbed his phone. He made his way to one of his favorite playlists, one that he had made for Nicky in the past few months since they’d seen each other. God, he hated thinking about those.

Nicky’s eyes flashed open in surprise when the first few strains of “Life of the Party” began to drift through the room. He gave a wry smile. “Still?”

“You’ve done amazing, babe. I’m so proud of you.” Erik gave a shy smile, something that surprised him, because he wasn’t often shy. But this man… He’d overcome such heartbreaking odds. He’d worked so hard to change his life, working through the hell his parents had put him through, and then trying to make things work in an entirely new country. Erik could still remember that scared and shy boy he’d met so long ago, trying desperately to hide who he was in order to protect himself. He remembered how hard it was to show that boy that he shouldn’t have to hide. That he didn’t have to, because Erik was there for him. 

He held his arms out to this boy that held his heart, breath catching in a small gasp when Nicky grabbed him and pulled him in closer.

Looking into his eyes, he remembered how torn and heartbroken Nicky was when news of his aunt’s death found him. But the determination in his eyes then never wavered. He was going to protect the twins from that hell he’d experienced. That determination still shone, but now it was accompanied by the confidence and joy at knowing he’d succeeded. That all those sleepless nights, all those tear-filled phone calls and Skype dates, all his worries and concerns that plagued him during those difficult years had been worth it. He’d done it. He deserved the world. And with this new-found strength, he was going to get it.

Erik held Nicky close as they swayed gently from side to side. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered again. 

Nicky sniffed, and when he spoke, it sounded like he was trying to choke back tears. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Erik. Thank you.”

#  
“We don’t have to be ordinary  
Make your best mistakes  
We don’t have the time to be sorry  
So, baby, be the life of the party.”


End file.
